Associateship of the BIPP

I am absolutely delighted to reveal that today, I qualified as an Associate of the British Institute of Professional Photographers in the Scientific Photography category. My submission was assessed by the Professional Photographic Qualifying Board consisting of several Fellows of the BIPP in the Scientific imaging field. I was told I had passed with flying colours and that my panel was being nominated for the Peter Grugeon Award for 2007 Best Associateship application. Wow - I still can’t quite believe it.

At this level, the standards are obviously very high so it is quite a nerve-wracking experience and the whole submission, consisting of a panel of 20 images plus extensive written documentation, had taken around 6 months to put together. I had undertaken a considerable amount of research on each of the subjects in my panel and written extensive descriptions on each one. I also included a written paper giving more background information and relevant detail. It was worth it though - the whole experience is an invaluable one not so much in getting the qualification although that is, of course, the hopeful outcome and purpose of the exercise but rather in the whole process of preparing for it. You learn so much about yourself, your images and why you take them.

I can certainly recommend it to anyone thinking of doing so and would like to thank Eric Jenkins FBIPP FRPS for his invaluable help, support, encouragement and advice during the whole preparation process. Thanks Eric!